Alabama Democrats have removed Harry Lyon as their nominee for chief justice of the state Supreme Court.

A party committee made the decision Friday. It came after Lyon addressed party officials during a hearing in Birmingham. Lyon has made disparaging remarks about homosexuals and Republican opponent Roy Moore in interviews and on Facebook.

Lyon's statement to the panel veered from his personal Christian faith to claims of political wrongdoing going back decades. He says he didn't have much time to prepare a defense because his house was flooded and his dog died.